Carer Support

We have substantially increased the carer premium in Income Support to £24.40 from 1 April. This will benefit some 36,000 low income carers aged 60 years or over.

We also propose to extend eligibility to apply for Invalid Care Allowance (ICA) to carers aged 65 or over as soon as a legislative opportunity permits. This will enable some older carers with limited entitlement to retirement pension to receive ICA, either at the full rate
88W
or as a top-up. In addition, many pensioner carers will be able to receive carer premium paid on top of the Minimum Income Guarantee for the first time.